AIG Women’s Open Leader Ally Ewing Taking Inspiration From Brian Harman
A bit like what happened at Hoylake, American Ally Ewing is running away with the AIG Women's Open


At the halfway stage at The Open we had an American, who had yet to win a Major, leading by five shots on 10-under. At Walton Heath we have another American, also a non-Major winner to date, on 10-under and also with a five-stroke lead.
Brian Harman went on to win by an incredible six shots at Royal Liverpool after piecing together a brilliant weekend – what lies ahead for Ally Ewing is anybody's guess but she's certainly hoping to take the positives from what her fellow southerner did last month.
"I don't know him personally, I obviously know his story. He's a Bulldog but he's a Georgia bulldog. I'm a Bulldog; I'm a Mississippi State Bulldog. I guess we have that in common. But yeah, it's pretty cool, southern guy, I'm southern, just a little Mississippi girl. It is inspiring what he did," explained the 30-year-old.
"You know, I think a lot of people, I wouldn't say they were rooting against him but a lot of people were rooting for other people. I can kind of attest to that in some sense but yeah, certainly happy with where I am through 36 holes."
Harman made reference in his winner's press conference that a spectator had pointed out that he might not 'have the stones' early on in his final round on the Sunday, a comment that sparked the American back into action.
"That helped, that helped a lot. It helped snap me back into I'm good enough to do this. I'm going to do this. I'm going to go through my process and the next shot is going to be good."
And, while Ewing will unlikely face any type of similar comments, she will have to win on foreign soil. Ewing was even asked whether, like Harman, she hunted and, like Harman, she had a similar reply.
Get the Golf Monthly Newsletter
Subscribe to the Golf Monthly newsletter to stay up to date with all the latest tour news, equipment news, reviews, head-to-heads and buyer’s guides from our team of experienced experts.
"I actually do some hunting. I know that's probably not going to be interpreted well by the media but I do, yes. I think people can spin it the wrong way, it's a means to eat for sure. For the most part my family, my husband and I, we do mostly deer hunting, so venison. That's most of what we do."
Ewing's second round added up to a six-under 66, an improvement of two shots on Thursday's effort, and it featured a beautiful run of four straight birdies to complete a front nine of 30.
"I didn't really even know until I signed my scorecard that I had four birdies in a row, so I would probably say that stretch from like 6 to 11 is kind of a little bit of a blur but yeah, I was very in the present on all of those shots. So it's not like I was just, you know, wandering around. It still took execution and being in that present form to those shots.
"You can have looks but you've got to be able to capitalise on them and I rolled them in which not all of them were super straight. I rolled in some breaking putts, which I feel like that's always a confidence boost to match up the line and speed. So yeah, it was a very solid day."
Ewing has Type 1 diabetes which she found out after getting her Tour card in 2016 and she keeps a device in her back pocket so she can scan herself every so often.
"I'm not one that's started using an insulin pump yet. I'm still doing shots by the mil so that's kind of how I've gone about it. Some days are tougher than others but it's manageable. The technology and stuff has progressed a long way. It's something that I have to be aware of on a golf course, not just my golf, which you know, can sometimes be a little distracting.
"I don't feel spikes as much. The lows, I can feel pretty loopy, I can feel shaky. It honestly changes every time. Sometimes I feel very fatigued all of a sudden, so I keep Gatorade in my golf bag, take six ounces or so to get it to come back up and stay on top of my snacks and stuff."
Ewing was going to treat herself to a pastry before turning her attentions to a weekend that might well be life-changing.
"You can't really suppress it. The past is the past, like nothing that I've done through 36 holes can do anything for me for the next 36, so I'm just going to be mentally prepared for each individual day that presents itself. Each shot is going to be different."
Mark has worked in golf for over 20 years having started off his journalistic life at the Press Association and BBC Sport before moving to Sky Sports where he became their golf editor on skysports.com. He then worked at National Club Golfer and Lady Golfer where he was the deputy editor and he has interviewed many of the leading names in the game, both male and female, ghosted columns for the likes of Robert Rock, Charley Hull and Dame Laura Davies, as well as playing the vast majority of our Top 100 GB&I courses. He loves links golf with a particular love of Royal Dornoch and Kingsbarns. He is now a freelance, also working for the PGA and Robert Rock. Loves tour golf, both men and women and he remains the long-standing owner of an horrific short game. He plays at Moortown with a handicap of 6.
-
'Shocked' Mimi Rhodes Claims First LET Victory In Fourth Start After Helpful Swing Change
A winner of the 2023 NCAA D1 Women's Golf Championship and the 2024 Curtis Cup claimed her second pro success at the Women's NSW Open on Sunday
By Jonny Leighfield Published
-
College Golf Star Gordon Sargent Left Out Of Vanderbilt Line-Up Months Before Taking Up PGA Tour Card
The Vanderbilt Commodores player will not compete in the Valspar Collegiate after failing to break the top 50 in 2025 so far
By Mike Hall Published
-
'Shocked' Mimi Rhodes Claims First LET Victory In Fourth Start After Helpful Swing Change
A winner of the 2023 NCAA D1 Women's Golf Championship and the 2024 Curtis Cup claimed her second pro success at the Women's NSW Open on Sunday
By Jonny Leighfield Published
-
Report: Tour Player Features In Three LPGA Events Despite Not Being Qualified As Circuit Takes Action
One of the affected events was the HSBC Women's World Championship
By Mike Hall Published
-
Nelly Korda Reveals Impressive Persimmon Driver Distance... And It's Further Than Most Golfers Average Off The Tee
The World No.1 hit an old-school persimmon driver over 267 yards in practice for next week's Ford Championship
By Elliott Heath Published
-
After Nelly Korda And Charley Hull Called Out Slow Play, The LPGA Tour Has Taken Another Step Towards Fixing The Issue With Season-Long Tracker
The LPGA is introducing a new season-long tracker for bad hole times, with players being fined depending on how many they collect
By Paul Higham Published
-
Charley Hull Makes £10,000 Bet To Give Up Smoking Habit
Posting to her Instagram story, Hull revealed that she has made a £10,000 bet to quit smoking over the next two months
By Matt Cradock Published
-
You Don't See This Very Often... Why Does This Tour Pro Have A Right Handed And Left Handed Putter In The Bag This Week?
Playing the Australian Women's Classic, it was revealed that Marianne Skarpnord had put two putters in her bag for the week, with the reason being quite simple
By Matt Cradock Published
-
Charley Hull And Georgia Hall Knocked Out Of Sunningdale Foursomes
The LPGA Tour stars fell short against Tom Shadbolt and Ben Evans in the last 16 of the prestigious contest
By Mike Hall Published
-
Charley Hull And Georgia Hall Progress As Gareth Bale Knocked Out Of Sunningdale Foursomes
The Solheim Cup stars made it through on Tuesday as five-time Champions League winner Gareth Bale lost on the final hole
By Elliott Heath Published